Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
by BookWorm4Life12
Summary: A month with Piper's Great-Uncle turns into a ghost vs. demigod death wish. Alice. That used to be what Cheyenne would name her daughter, but now, it scares her. Will she survive, or will Alice win again every year since 1851.
1. Coming to the Ketman Hall

**Don't Be Afraid of the Dark…**

**Chapter 1**

**Day 1**

As the limo pulled up to the giant mansion, all the demigods were in awe. Who knew Piper's Great-Uncle was a rich British man? Cheyenne's mouth was dropped and she was in the state of shock.

"Piper, ask your Great-Uncle if he'd like to share some of his money," she said.

Piper smiled. "I haven't even met him!"

"Yea, use your powers," Leo said.

The driver came around and opened the door. "Welcome to Ketman Hall," he said.

Everyone piled out of the limo and stood on the wide, white marble steps. The driver grabbed their bags; backpacks full of extra clothes, weapons, etc., and set them on the steps with them. Cheyenne picked up her black bag, still staring at the mansion. It was a reddish brown brick mansion, with a dark huge roof, walls lined with what seemed like hundreds of windows, and the walls having dark green vines scaling them on the sides. The garden, being fixed by multiple gardeners, was gorgeous. There was a hedge maze, white roses, and red roses: every plant imaginable. It would've been Demeter's dream house. Behind it was land as far as the eye could see.

The door opened up and a plump maid stood there. She had flour on her, probably from the kitchen, with rosy red cheeks and a huge smile.

"Oh my!" she said in a heavy Irish accent. "You must be Miss McLean and her friends. Come in! Come in! Let me get someone to show you around! Don't want to let my bread burn, now do we? Molly, be a dear and show these lads and lassies around, will you?"

A girl about thirteen years old came out from the other side of the door in a maids outfit too. She was a pale girl, who didn't wear a smile, and seemed as if a glance would scare her. She reminded Piper of a stick.

"Can I get the rest of you's names?" the baker said. "Oh! Silly me! I'm Mrs. Donoghue, the baker. This is Molly; a shy one she is. But she's the friendliest most hard working thirteen year old you ever did meet! Now, I'm curious; what are your names?"

"Well, Mrs. Donoghue; this is Jason Grace, Leo Valdez, Cheyenne Hills, Percy Jackson, Hazel Levesque, and Frank Zhang," Piper said, pointing each of them out.

"Well, by golly! It's a sure pleasure to meet you! Oh, my bread! Got to go, Chaps! See you at supper!"

She hobbled off into a hallway. Molly stood there like a mouse cornered by cats. "Follow me."

She walked them upstairs and down the hallway. Rooms lined the red carpeted tan wall hall.

"These are your rooms," she said very quietly. "Pick whichever one you want and if you need anything, you can ask me. I'm usually wandering around this big ol' place." She walked off very meekly as they chose their rooms. They had these little golden plaques on them; all with names and years. Jason had Scott Ketman's old room, Percy had Michael Ketman's old room, Piper had Juliet Ketman's old room, Frank had Peter Ketman's old room, Hazel had Elizabeth Ketman III's old room, and Leo had George Ketman's old room; but Cheyenne's was different. It said:

_Alice Ketman_

_Monday, January 28, 1837-Friday. December 13, 1851 _

_Never nowhere; always somewhere_

Looking around, on everyone else's plaque, they were always a year after the other: Alice's coming first; and they all died on December 13, except Michael Ketman.

"Whatever," Cheyenne said. "They're probably just trying to scare us." She swung open her door and to her surprise the window was open.

"Well, it's working," Leo said.

Cheyenne had frozen. She remembered everything and that was closed when they walked in. No one had time to open that and leave. A thought popped in her mind, but she brushed it off.

"You ok?" Piper asked.

"That window wasn't opened when we came in," Cheyenne said, standing in the doorway and staring at it. There was a faint laugh in the wind.

"Did you hear that?" she said, jumping backwards.

"It's your ADHD," Percy said. "Nothing's in there."

"No, that window WASN'T opened!" she insisted. "Trust me: photographic memory, remember?"

"Any 'Ghosts' come out, we're right here," Jason said.

Reluctantly, she was the first to walk in her room. She couldn't help but feel watched. There was a dark shadow in the corner and she was nervous. She shook off the feeling and unpacked her stuff. She felt something cold on her neck, and this time, she knew it was real: someone whispered in her ear.

"_Trust me: once a Ketman, always a Ketman," _it said.

Cheyenne jumped back and fell on her bed, looking around in complete shock. Ok, she told herself, calm down. It's just your ADHD like Percy said. Calm down.

"Hey," Piper said from the doorway. "You ok?"

Cheyenne nodded her head and got up. "Yea, just tripped."

"You look like you saw a ghost," she said. "There's no such thing. Come on, let's get you out of this room so you can go outside with us."

Cheyenne smiled, put her stuff on her dark wooded dresser, and walked out with Piper. Piper must've mouthed something to the others because they said something.

"There's no ghost," Leo said.

Hazel shifted and refused to look at Cheyenne's room. She met Cheyenne's eyes and Cheyenne immediately knew that Hazel believed her; and never doubt a Hades/Pluto kid about ghosts. The subject dropped when Cheyenne just laughed and said it was probably nothing, but she gave Hazel a look that said _we need to talk before I go to sleep. _

As they walked outside, weapons perfectly hidden, Hazel kept glancing at Cheyenne's side as if she kept seeing something. Then, Hazel suggested they go to the maze. Once they got there, Cheyenne had already figured out her whole plan.

"How about you five go first?" Hazel suggested. "Me and Cheyenne are the youngest so we'll wait for you guys here. Plus, we can help if you guys get lost."

"But… I'm fourteen too!" Frank said.

"Two months," Cheyenne said. "I'm two months younger than you."

He sighed and reluctantly went with the others. The one who won got 10 bucks. They all ran in and left for the five mile labyrinth. A minute later, Hazel began whispering.

Looking at Cheyenne's side, she glared. Then, with a nervous look, she whispered to Cheyenne. "You're right, there is a ghost. It's following you around. I thought I sensed a dark mist around this place, but at first I thought it was nerves. It's just a dark misty figure now, but it seems like it's getting angrier and angrier. I think it's Alice. The more a spirit gets angry, the stronger it becomes. I'll to help you as much as I can, but I don't know what all I should do. This is Nico's department."

Cheyenne nodded. "Thanks; I knew there was something. Do you think I'll get to see her?"

Hazel nodded. "She wants to kill you, but as long as I'm around, she won't. It's just the night part that I'm worried about."

They heard someone panting, coming out of the exit. Leo walked around the side.

"Ok," he said. "I heard everything you said. I want to help."

Cheyenne reluctantly let him help. Once he was in, he had a brilliant idea: find out how she died.


	2. After Dark by Fire Light

**Chapter 2**

**Day 1: Dinner**

After exploring outside, everyone was hot, tired, and hungry. Once they got inside, Mrs. Donoghue ushered them to the long dinner table, her cheeks rosy from smiling too much and baking. As the demigods sat down, Mrs. Donoghue walked back in and her and Molly brought out the food and sat it on the table. They walked out into the kitchen and everyone began scooping spoon-full's of food. As they ate, they all left part of their meat on their plate for their parents. Not knowing what to do, they got Leo to burn them with his hands.

After dinner, it was 8:27. Cheyenne, Hazel, and Leo made their way to Piper's Uncle's study. Once they got there, there was a single candle burning in the center. As they looked around, there wasn't a single light switch. Leo made his left hand catch on fire as her looked around with his right. As they looked around, Cheyenne made her way towards the candle. An open book lay on the table. Names were written down on the lines. Next to it were dates and words. She read the one at the top of the page: _Jeremy Ketman – February 27, 1834 – old age. _

"Hey," she said. "Come look at this!"

The other two made their way towards her and Leo's hand helped a ton.

"Look at this one," he said. "_Alice Ketman – December 13, 1851 – fell from roof onto icy ground below. _Guess we found out how she died."

The window flung open and a gust of the night wind flew in. The candle blew out, Leo's hand blew out, and their hair blew sideways. Hazel went over, closed the window, and locked it. As she came back, Leo lit his hand back and they kept reading. Everyone else died a gruesome death, each different than the last – kitchen explosion, freezing to death, duel, attacked by dog with rabies, murder, sickness, internal bleeding – you name it, they died of it.

"That sounds painful," Leo said, pointing to the beheading by "accident".

Leo looked at his watch and saw it was 9:07. He lit the candle back, and they walked out of the study towards their bedrooms. When they stepped foot in the hall, commotion came from Cheyenne's room. She ran down there and swung her door open. She gripped the door knob and she screamed.

Jason, Piper, Percy, and Frank came out of their rooms and went to see what was wrong as Leo and Hazel ran down there. All Cheyenne stuff was broken. The picture of her and her dad was shattered, her bed sheets were shredded, the carpet had water spilt on it, her clothes were stained, and on her walls, someone had written "_RUN WHILE YOU HAVE THE CHANCE"_.

"Oh my gods," Piper said. "What the Hades happened?"

Cheyenne looked at Hazel and Leo. The three knew it – Alice. Cheyenne walked in, picked up the picture of her and her dad, and picked up the broken glass. One sliced her finger and she dropped the glass. She shook it off and continued picking it up. Everyone walked in and helped her with her stuff.

"Who would do this?" Jason muttered to himself out loud.

No one answered.

"Cheyenne, you can borrow some of my clothes until we can get you some more," Piper said, picking up the ruined clothes. "I can't believe this happened."

"Thanks," Cheyenne said, chunking the frame but sticking the picture in the crack between her mirror and the frame. "Uh, can you go tell Mrs. Donoghue what happened?"

"Sure!" Piper said. She walked out of the room.

As they finished up picking up, Piper and Mrs. Donoghue walked in. Mrs. Donoghue's usual perky face was shocked.

"Oh dear," she said, walking into the room. "Oh my; how – how did this happen?"

"I don't know!" Cheyenne said. "I came back and this was here!" She looked up at the wall, and surprisingly, the words had disappeared.

"Don't worry; I'll be right back with Molly and some sheets. I can fix the bed and she can help with the carpet. I'm sorry, Miss, about your clothes."

"It's alright," Cheyenne said. "Don't worry about it."

Mrs. Donoghue smiled and walked out, making her way to find Molly. Leo glanced towards the doors, dropped to his knees, and caught his hand so hot it evaporated some of the water. As soon as he heard Molly and Mrs. Donoghue walking out of the hall, he jumped up, blowing his hand out, and soon they walked in. Jason, Percy, Frank, and Leo, realizing they weren't needed anymore, walked out, saying goodbye. Jason and Piper sent a telepathic message, and then he walked out.

As Jason's door closed, Mrs. Donoghue looked at Piper and said, "He likes you."

Piper blushed and helped her with the bed spread. Hazel and Cheyenne helped Molly with the ground, rubbing the towels on the ground. A black and white cat trotted in, jumping on the bed spread, curled up and fell asleep.

"Cheyenne," Mrs. Donoghue said, "I think you might have a wee roommate tonight. This is Boomer; a trouble maker, he is. I would've said it was him that clawed up ye sheets, but it seems he likes ye. You aren't allergic, are ya?"

"No ma'am," she said. "I had a cat of my own, Idiot."

"What did you call me?"

"No, not you, Mrs. Donoghue; my cat's name was Idiot!" Cheyenne said defending herself. "That came out wrong."

Mrs. Donoghue laughed. "That's a good name. Well, I hope you have a good nights rest. Come on, Molly."

As the two walked out, a faint laughter was heard. Piper and Hazel said goodnight, and then the two walked out. Not even bothering to change, she crawled under the cold sheets and fell asleep, praying to Athena that Alice wouldn't bother her tonight.


	3. Breakfast: the Darkest Meal Of the Day

**Chapter 3**

**Day 2: Breakfast, the Darkest Meal Of the Day**

As everyone except Cheyenne came down for breakfast, everyone was talking, hungry, and certainly ready for breakfast. As they sat down, Mrs. Donoghue came out with pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, syrup, orange juice, milk, strawberries, and blueberries. Everyone was drooling over it. Right before they started to stab the food, Mrs. Donoghue stopped them.

"Where's Cheyenne?" she asked. Everyone looked around and shrugged. Leo and Hazel looked at each other nervously, and then stuffed eggs in their mouth. Mrs. Donoghue looked at them. "You two; what's going on?"

They shrugged. She sighed; she fixed Cheyenne a plate and a glass of orange juice, set it on a tray, and told Molly to take it up to her. Molly nodded and took the tray up to Cheyenne's room. As she got to the threshold of the hall way, she heard Cheyenne saying something to herself. She silently walked closer, daring to hear. Finally, she understood.

"I'm going crazy," she said breathlessly. "This isn't happening; I'm going insane. This house – it's doing it. Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods; what am I going to do?"

Molly took a breath and knocked on the door. "Miss Cheyenne?" she said.

She heard Cheyenne jump and make her way towards the door. She didn't open it though. "Yes?" she asked through the other side of the door.

"Um, Mrs. Donoghue has sent me up with your breakfast," she said meekly.

"Oh dang it," she muttered. Then she said, "Um, just leave it outside my door. I'll get it in just a second."

She set it down, but as she did she took another breath. "Are… are you ok?"

"Yes, yes I'm fine," Cheyenne said, but Molly heard how she was nervous. "Is that all?"

"Yes, sorry to bug you."

Molly quickly walked away with her short rapid steps, arms at her side. As she made her ways down the stairs, everyone turned and looked at her. Her face turned bright red and her eyes darted around. She shrunk as much as she could and quickly went into the kitchen, head down. Mrs. Donoghue came in there, and motioned her to come out. As she walked out, she saw all the eyes staring at her. It was torture.

"So, why isn't she coming out?" Mrs. Donoghue asked. "Is she sick? I's call the doctor if she-a sick."

"No," Molly said really quietly. "She kept saying "I'm going insane" or "This house is making me go crazy". She didn't come out of her room, but she asked me if I'd sit it outside her door, so I did."

Leo and Hazel exchanged that same look again, but this time, they looked more worried. Frank set his fork down.

"Ok," he said with a mouth full of pancakes. "What's going on? Ever since this whole ghost raid went on, you two and Cheyenne's been acting funny."

The two didn't answer; they just kept eating. Even Piper looked annoyed. Frank rolled his eyes and kept eating. Percy just sat there, stuffing his face with blueberries and pancakes. Jason looked as confused as Percy was, but they just kept eating. Then, it hit Jason.

"It's that ghost thing, isn't it?" he said.

Neither of them answered nor looked up.

"There is no such thing as ghosts!" he said.

"Oh my boy," Mrs. Donoghue said. "There are; some evil, some good. Some are just shy. But some are worse that evil; they're wicked, like one of our many residents here." She picked up one of the empty pancake plates and walked to the kitchen.

"What do you mean?"

She didn't answer. She began humming as she hand washed the dish. Out of the corner of their eye, they saw Cheyenne coming down the stairs. She was silent. She had a black jacket unzipped, but the hood up and her hands in her pockets. She had black pajama pants and a black tank. The hood just shadowed her eyes and her nose and they couldn't see her hair.

"You look rough," Piper said.

Cheyenne didn't speak. She just reached her hand, which her sleeve was covering, towards the table and picked up the syrup. She turned around and ran up the stairs. Leo and Hazel did that thing again and this time, no one had a chance to argue because the two were already running up the stairs towards her room. They stepped in the hall just in time to see her door close. They went over and knocked.

"Who is it?" she said with a mouth full of food.

"Luke Skywalker and R2D2," Leo said sarcastically. "Open up."

They heard her grab something and heard her getting up, but a minute later, she told them to come in. She was sitting on the floor, eating her food, and listening to her iPod. She still had that hood up.

"Ok, what's up?" Hazel asked.

"Nothing," she said.

"Ok come on," Leo said. "What's up with the hood?"

She held her hood. "Nothing."

"Ok," Leo said. She let go of it and he walked towards her bed. As he got behind her, he pulled the hood off. She swung her fist back and hit him in the stomach, but the sight was shocking.

Her hair had turned black.

"What happened?" Hazel asked.

"I woke up and found it this way," she said.

A chilling laugh came through the room and Cheyenne stood up, grabbing her plate. "Let's go somewhere else," she said. "She's back."

* * *

As they started to go down stairs, Leo and Hazel thought they were going to have to drag her. After ten minutes of persuading, Leo finally got her downstairs: he stole her food. Once she got down the stairs, he gave her the food.

"_Voila!_" he said. "I brought her back to life!"

It got so quiet you could hear a pin drop. They were all staring at her hair.

"What did you do?" Piper asked.

"I woke up and it was like this," she said.

"It was Alice," Mrs. Donoghue said. "Her hair was dark and her brother's was blonde; that's why she hates blondes. I knew there was something different about you."

"What?" Cheyenne asked.

"Now, you look just like her."


	4. The Stream and It's Great Luck

**Chapter 4**

**Day 2: Afternoon and Night**

Cheyenne walked into the living room and collapsed on the couch. This girl who had haunted her dreams, had dyed her hair black, and had ruined almost everything she owned, looked like her. Mrs. Donoghue and everyone else came in there, sitting down on the couches and chairs. Mrs. Donoghue sat in the chair that looked like the Head Chair. She dusted her dress off and looked around.

"Don't take it as a bad thing, child," she said. "I've seen photos of Alice; beautiful girl, she was. Dark hair, grey eyes, red lips – I was told by Mr. Ketman that she was very beautiful, but she had an attitude like a snake. He said his great-grandmother was related to her somehow; sister, cousin, maybe, but I can't remember. He said that she died of a fall. Her brother was up there screaming about it because it scared him so bad."

"So she chooses me to haunt and to tear up everything including my hair?" Cheyenne said her elbow on the arm of the couch and her fist in her hand. "It would be my luck that I get this crap."

"What are you going to do?" Piper asked quietly.

"Well, you didn't even believe me at first so I don't see why you care," she snapped. Then she got confused.

_She's mean to you, _a voice said. _She didn't believe you. Don't trust her. Don't like her. You're too good for her._

Hazel looked behind Cheyenne. "GET!" she yelled. There was a giggle and soon there was a cold burst of air.

Cheyenne looked at Piper. "That wasn't me," she said. "I –"

"It's alright," Piper said. "But what are you going to do?"

Cheyenne shrugged. "I don't know." She got up. "I'll be back." She went upstairs, and went into her room.

Mrs. Donoghue sighed. "I knew something like this would happen. It always does. Oh, well, I got to go clean. Come on, Molly. Let's leave these young ones alone."

As the two of them walked out, they sat there and talked, but not about Alice. It was just about Camp.

* * *

As Cheyenne got in the showers, all she could think about was how this ghost chose to follow her. Then she got a thought: what if I chose a different room. Would the other person have got it?

A few minutes later, she got out of the shower, dried of, and put her clothes on. She hadn't even bothered to wash her hair; she was going out anyways. As she slipped on an extra pair of clothes she had the luckily didn't get ruined, her mind raced. Once she was done, she looked in the mirror. She had on jeans, a t-shirt, her black converse, and her black jacket. She thought, wow, I never thought I would look Goth. She shoved some cash in her pockets and put her knife safely out of sight, and walked out of her room. She found Frank about to go in his room. When he saw her, he looked around, and then approached her.

"Ok, Hazel and Leo aren't with you, are they?" he whispered.

"No," she said. "I was fixing to go get some air."

"Can you answer a question for me?"

She nodded.

His voice got really quite. "Is anything going on between Hazel and Leo?"

Cheyenne let out a little laugh. "No, trust me; Hazel didn't even want him to help but I'm the one that said that he could."

He looked a little relieved. "Ok, thanks."

"No problem," Cheyenne said, walking away. Once she was downstairs, she went into the kitchen to find Mrs. Donoghue. Once she found her, she felt warm and safe.

"Um, Mrs. Donoghue?" she said. "I was going to go catch some air and I was wondering if you had a notebook and a pencil I could use. I had one but… it's gone."

She smiled. "Of course," she said. "Hmm, can you watch this for me while I go get one?"

"Sure."

As Mrs. Donoghue walked off, Cheyenne stood there, stirring the gravy and making sure it didn't stick. A minute or two later, she came back, laid the two things on the counter, and took back over stirring the gravy.

Cheyenne said goodbye and headed towards the back door. Once she got out, she walked through the woods, notebook and pencil in hand. A few minutes later she came upon the stream. It had crystal clear water, pebbles at the bottom, and it was beautiful. She sat down, her back to a tree, and began sketching ideas for stuff for Capture the Flag and the quest. About an hour or two later, she heard footsteps. She looked up.

A black haired boy with dark clothes, dark eyes, and Olive skin was walking down the side of the stream. He looked fit and he was pretty cute. When he got close, he glanced up with his eyes. He sat down on the ground a few feet from her. She heard the rain on the leaves on the trees above her, but she didn't get wet.

"I haven't seen you around here," he said. "Are you visiting?"

He had a British accent – a very hot British accent.

"I'm staying with my friends in Ketman Hall," she said. "I just had to get away from there for a while."

He chuckled, looking at the water. "You do know that place's haunted, right?"

"You have no idea," Cheyenne said.

"Ah, she tore up your stuff, didn't she?" he asked.

"She as in –"

"Don't say her name," he said quickly. "Names have power. I'm Felix, by the way."

"I'm Cheyenne," Cheyenne said. "She as in fourteen-year old she?"

"Exactly," he said. "How long have you been here?"

"This is my second day."

"Have you been shown around?"

"No."

"Well why don't I show you? I mean, I try to stay as far away from that place as I can, and I can imagine you want to too. What do you say?"

She closed her notebook. "All right, I guess so."

He helped her up and soon they were walking through the streets of London. He pointed out different things: where to get the best books, where to find clothes, the sights, the churches, and even the best café. As they got there, they stopped, got them something to eat, and talked.

He was different than anyone Cheyenne had ever talked to. She couldn't figure out what it was, but she felt like she could tell him anything. He was a really good listener and a very good story teller too. Soon, they were back to walking, except this time they had coffee and were telling stories.

Cheyenne told him about the time her and her dad went camping and how their tent was soaked and they had to cut it short because a hurricane was coming and how they left their tent there in the Camp site. Soon, they were talking so much she felt as if she knew him all of her life. Felix was just so… wow.

"Hey do you know what time it is?" she asked him.

"Just a few minutes till dark," he said. "Why?"

"Oh crap, I got to get back," Cheyenne said.

"Wait," he said. "Can I get your number first?"

She tore out a sheet of paper, wrote down her number and her name, but she told him he couldn't call it, just text because she's not even supposed to have a phone. He gave her his, told her the short cut, and soon she was sprinting off towards the house. Once she got there, she was tired and hungry. As she walked inside, everyone was coming down the stairs.

As they ate, Cheyenne was in her own little world, thinking about Felix. They asked her what she did, but she didn't tell them about Felix. She just made up some story. After dinner, she ran upstairs and checked her phone: No Messages. She sighed and put his number in.

Why did I really think he'd text me? she thought. But right as she thought that, her phone buzzed: Felix.

_So, what'd you think of London? I never got to ask you._

She smiled. Maybe she could put up with Alice for a few more days. That whole night, she stayed up texting Felix. She didn't realize she had fell asleep midsentence.


End file.
